So, what’s new. Well, the most exciting thing is our late summer arrivals. Take a look at our webcam, and you’ll see something which, if you know your birds, is very exciting.

The baby owls both made it, and are now settled in fine. The wood owl is part of most of the experience days we run each day. The Great Grey had such a tough start, that we decided to give him a long period in an aviary before we add the stress of training.

Sadly, and despite an MRI scan, CT scan, and expert input from the Royal Dick vet school, and two raptor specialist vets, the 36 year old Golden Eagle, Methuselah, had to be put to sleep. Her imbalance problems that have plagued her for some time had been getting significantly worse. The scans on top of all her previous test highlighted nothing that would cause her clinical signs, so, considering her rate of decline, she was put to sleep on humane grounds. With luck, the PM results will show something to help further the knowledge of experts, and help treat other birds in the future.

The wind has been pounding us relentlessly over the past few weeks, especially yesterday when we suffered some structural damage. No injuries or losses though, so compared to some, we’re lucky!

2012 is going to be a tough and competitive year, but I’ll try to keep all the significant details, good and bad noted here. Remember though, we also have a facebook page now – just search elite falconry and we have a twitter account @elitefalconry so you can stay in touch there.

Good luck to you all in 2012, and with luck, we’ll meet some of you.

Elite Falconry

The baby owls were a huge attraction at RHS, and despite one bird getting a real kicking by both crows and gulls, and needing a quick pick up, the birds all flew really well. The feedback has been terriffic – some of which you can see on our facebook page.

So now we are raising two owls, the Brown Asian Wood Owl brought in to partner Jordan, and the young bird we bred and kept to partner Coco who flew at and did really well at RHS. Anyway, two imprinted owls = 1 x grubby kitchen!

We’re also manning the young lanner – Sneeze, who came out of his aviary and away from Mum and Dad at 63 days old. Hard penned and ready for training.

The big news…………………………..We have two new eagles coming in 6 1/2 weeks……………I’ll tease you with that for now.

Anyway, I promise RHS pictures and baby owl pictures over the next few days.

As usual, thanks for looking in.

On the subject of chicks, you’ll be delighted to hear that the falcon chick is still alive and doing great! It eats quail just about as fast as Ruby (its Mum) can deliver it. We also have two clutches of Harris Hawk chicks. One lot at about 3 weeks old, the other – well the first chick hatched today! The great grey owls have finally finished laying at 9 eggs! I have candled 6 which are fertile. The other 3 are unknown. The earliest they might pip is May 23rd, so just a week to go. The survival rate of grey owl chicks in captivity is terribly low, but we have been gathering information and have the best possible plans laid to keep them alive  – if they hatch. We expect some heartbreak, but also some terrific times. We’re trying to get the video streaming live to the website, and if we do, you’ll be able to see the hatching in real time and live.

Right, much to do today, so more soon, and thanks again for looking in.

On the subject of things new, we are also launching some web video streaming which will go live on the website probably over the weekend. The idea for this was Roxannes, and was driven by the amazing developments in the Great Grey Owl eggs. Right now, the only way I can describe what we can see in the eggs, is that they look like tiny red dragons swimming inside tethered to the inside of the shell, by ropes made from blood vessels. It’s just incredible, and we figured it’s something that might be good to share. The software has been added to the website, and we’re testing it now. After the eggs, we’ll add video which will run live in real time of the eggs hatching, then later, the owlets through their progress. Isn’t technology wonderful? Watch this space!

Back to what I am better at – birds! The young falcon chick is doing fine, so we’re chuffed with that. We’re over the most critical stage of the return to Mum, so with luck, that’ll be a nice young falcon to work from late summer. We’re not so sure about a Harris Hawk chick. It keeps laying with a leg kicked out behind it. It’s hard to see if it’s a problem through a tiny spy hole, so unfortunately, I’ll have to go in and see if it’s in need of help. I’ll let you know how it goes.

We’ve lost the really nice sunny days, but while we have cloud and rain, it’s patchy, and in the clear spells it’s roasting hot! We’ll be trying to hit those gaps in the cloud with the thermalling birds. I hope to give the altimeters a good workout.

On all days we’re not with guests or at other venues doing bird of prey flying demonstrations, we’re building towards our displays at the Royal Highland Show. It’s a showcase event in our 2011 and 2012 calendar. We won’t be doing stunts or tricks with the birds. We don’t want to encourage ‘pet keeping’ of birds of prey, and we don’t want to cheapen falconry! The aim therefore is traditionalism, with education, but served with an element of humour. I really hope what we perceive as high standards and professionalism, along with respect for falconry suits the crowds!

 Just a final note, it’s worth noting that someone drove into the back of our Land Rover Defender while at a roundabout last week. We’re being offered an equivalent substitute as a courtesy car while repairs are carried out. Last time that happened, we were given a BMW X5 which was about as useful off road and for our job as giving a cow a gun and telling it to go deer stalking! The Land Rovers may be uncomfortable, expensive and often difficult for guests to get in and out of, fact is, for what we do, in fact anyone who needs to know they’ll get on the hill, they really are the only choice!

That’s all for now, so thanks for looking in!

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We also have 4 fertile Great Grey Owl eggs, and another two that I haven’t candled (candling is the process where a concentrated light can be shone through an egg and reveal any development inside) yet. If we get all these out, late May will be a busy time for feeding baby owls.

We had another terrific day at The Falkirk Wheel yesterday (Monday) where Robin stepped up to the plate and managed his first commentary with demonstration. The boy did good!

The dynamics in the eagle aviary have really changed. The male had been the dominant figure, very much in control of high perches and the nest. However, over the past few days, the female Golden Eagle has exerted her power and dominance and without doubt has taken the lead role in the aviary. This turnaround may bode well for next years breeding season as his pressure had been suppressing her breeding instinct. This change may have her hormones racing at the right time next year.

Our first pair of Harris hawks are rasing young now, with the second pair having their clutch due to hatch in about another 10 days. I love all the new life.

I reported in an earlier blog about the sad demise of our superb old male Redtail Hawk (Buteo Jamaicensis) at the end of the season – killed by a hare. Well we find out in about a week if his very old Dad has sired any new males and if so, we’ll be having one. The place really isn’t right without him here, and his half brother (his Mum died a few years ago) would make it feel right again.

I think that’s all for now. I have a week of pest control (early starts) physio (sore shoulder) and another consultant peering into my dodgy ear (best reach for the tweezers, or strimmer to clear the path), but I’ll keep you all up to date on the progress of the babies and the eggs.

Thanks for looking in.

To explain that, the adult male did nothing to help incubate the eggs. This meant the eggs were cooling too much when the female came off them. So to avoid them all dying, we took the eggs away and left the adults with dummy eggs to keep them brooding. We hatched the only fertile egg, but we do not want it hand reared. We want a naturally raised well balanced bird. So we breed birds in seclusion, so when we take the youngsters out, we have a domestically produced wild bird! The imprinting stage – where the young chicks starts to be affected by its surroundings begins at around 5 days old. So this chick goes back to Mum and Dad today, at 3 days old. Fingers crossed. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for looking in.

All that is happening with our pest control season well under way. It’d great starting new contracts, and also seeing the fruits of our labour at older more established control sites. The business here is settling in to a comfortable place, but with no complacency setting in. We have a great team around us, and indeed we’re invigorated by the enthusiasm of our latest full time recruit, Robin Manson who has brought new vitality and some personal direction, motivation and ambition to our company and plans.

Indeed robin had a great day out in Stonehaven at Dunnotter Castle this week supplying some falcons for a photo’ shoot with a US jewellery company called Maevona. I think he just may have been concentrating too much on the bird in the glove, not the one on it!!!!!!!!

We also got started at The Falkirk Wheel at the Easter Weekend. We had tremendous weather and great crowds. We worked some out of Demo’ experiments with some new birds there too which went fairly well. Looking good for the future! We launched a new product at the wheel too. Between flying demonstrations we now put on a 30 minute session just for children. They come into the weathering area with us and all get to fly one of the owls. It was a huge success at Easter so we’ll be continuing that during all of our dates there.

I’ll try to get some pictures of our baby Faldeggi Lanner Falcon chick for you today. It’s just 2 days old, and goes back to Mum tomorrow (Sunday). We had to pull the lanner eggs because Dad wasn’t covering when Mum took a break from brooding. We’ve left her with dummy eggs, and just recently, I did see Dad helping incubate right at the end of the incubation period. With luck, that’s a good sign for them accepting the chick back for natural rearing in seclusion.

Anyway, that’s all for now – oh, except you can now see more of what we’re up to on our new Facebook page. It’s called Elite Falconry so please drop in and have a look. That’s another new project having been instigated and created by Robin – cheers bloke!

More soon, and thanks for looking in.

Thanks for looking in.

We have now got a good number of falcon eggs from several species but for some reason, although we know there has been copulation because the eggs are fertile, the males are not joining in with incubation when the females step off the eggs. So we’ve pulled them and have them in the incubators. I pulled the eggs early so didn’t know until later if they were fertile, so opted to leave the pairs without dummy eggs, and they are already showing signs of recycling. If we get 2nd fertile clutches, we have a contingency in place to put the 2nd clutches with foster parents for parent rearing.

We also have Harris hawks with eggs, the first clutch of which are due to start hatching in a week.

On the slightly less cheery side, my poor old Hungarian Vizsla, Jodie had to be put to sleep on Monday she was 14. Last Friday, she was still bouncing around, happy and healthy, running 3 miles a day with the other dogs. She had come into season for the first time in 2 years and it was heavy and bothering her, but after a conversation with the vet, was seen as no cause for concern. However, Friday evening, on her run she started to limp a little. But she was still happy, and eating normally. We put her on Metacam to reduce any swelling in her suspect shoulder and to kill the pain a little. Saturday morning she was very unwilling to walk. She would limp around the garden, but was clearly a little unhappy. Saturday night she wouldn’t get up unless lifted and while drinking normally, she wouldn’t eat. Sunday morning she was a bit brighter, tail wagging and pleased to get some treats, but still wouldn’t eat her dinner. We conned her with some venison and trout, but not very much. Sunday evening and she still had to be lifted outside, and once she’d had a wee, she wouldn’t move. Had to be lifted back indoors. Monday morning was the same. Throughout all this she seemed painless when laying down, but totally unwilling to get up or move at all.  A trip to the vet ended with the expected result. Her shoulder had totally failed. No injury, just completely knackered. She has been hypothyroxic for 2 years and had a great, active trouble free life. The vet says there was nothing to do beyond stealing a few extra weeks using drugs to manage the pain and swelling in the wrecked shoulder. That would have been the wrong decision for her and us, so in total agreement with the vet, she was put to sleep. She rests now side by side with Mac, her old running mate who she has missed this past few years. RIP.

Where there is livestock, there is dead stock, and new life is always around the corner. The ferrets are all bursting with kitts! I didn’t want any baby ferrets this year, but someone wanted a whole litter from me so we decided to breed one jill, and let the other be mated by the vasectomised hob. Despite our vigilance, the intact hob got there first and they’re all pregnant!!!!!!!!

It’s a shame our Golden Eagles aren’t as compatible as the ferrets. Relations in that aviary are better, but this year is a write off as far as breeding is concerned!

We’re exploring things to build our next block of aviaries now. We plan another 8 aviaries built off the side of the eagle aviary. One large for another very very special pair of eagles we have coming, and the remainder for falcons. These are plans that have been simmering for a long long time, but the work put in by everyone and the support of others means these dreamed of ideas may become a reality over the next few years. The aviaries will be built in phases but at least we’ll see them actually becoming a reality. It will be nice for the 36 year old Golden Eagle we have here who was stolen from the wild as she had just become adult in 1979, to have a purpose built aviary too. She has specific needs and it’ll be great to see her get them provided!

Final news for now, we also have been requested to build a quarantine facility to BALAI Directive standards. This will stand to allow us to serve as a facility to provide for birds moved throughout the world for conservation work. We should see some vulnerable species come through and become established as breeding pairs to improve their overall conservation status. We really do live in interesting times. It’s been a long hard game, but finally we see the conservation fruits of our labour. The new station will be sponsored by a couple of organisations, without whom it could never happen, so to them, we offer our unconditional gratitude!

That’s it for now. I’m back out to look for signs of the promised sun, and maybe a swallow!

Thanks for looking in.